I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4194 

To require the Attorney General to make competitive grants to State, tribal, 

and local governments to establish and maintain witness protection and 

assistance programs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 9, 2015 

Mr. CUMMINGS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To require the Attorney General to make competitive grants 

to State, tribal, and local governments to establish and 

maintain witness protection and assistance programs. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Witness Security and 

5 Protection Grant Program Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. WITNESS PROTECTION GRANT PROGRAM. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 


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1 (1) the term ‘‘applicant’’ means a State, tribal, 

2 or local government that applies for a grant under 

3 this section; and 

4 (2) the terms ‘‘serious drug offense’’ and ‘‘seri5 ous violent felony’’ have the meaning given those 

6 terms in section 3559(c)(2) of title 18, United 

7 States Code. 

8 (b) GRANTS REQUIRED.—Subject to subsection (j), 

9 the Attorney General shall make competitive grants to 

10 State, tribal, and local governments to establish or main11 tain programs that provide protection or assistance to wit12 nesses in court proceedings involving— 

13 (1) a homicide, serious violent felony, or serious 

14 drug offense; or 

15 (2) gangs or organized crime. 

16 (c) CRITERIA.—In making grants under this section, 

17 the Attorney General shall evaluate applicants based upon 

18 the following: 

19 (1) The extent to which the applicant lacks in20 frastructure to support programs that provide pro21 tection or assistance to witnesses. 

22 (2) The prevalence of witness intimidation in 

23 the jurisdiction of the applicant. 

24 (3) The percentage of cases not prosecuted by 

25 the applicant due to witness intimidation. 


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1 (4) The number of homicides per capita com2 mitted in the jurisdiction of the applicant. 

3 (5) The number of serious violent felonies or se4 rious drug offenses per capita committed in the ju5 risdiction of the applicant. 

6 (6) The extent to which organized crime is 

7 present in the jurisdiction of the applicant. 

8 (7) Any other criteria that the Attorney Gen9 eral determines appropriate. 

10 (d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—From amounts made 

11 available under subsection (j) to carry out this section, the 

12 Attorney General, upon request of a recipient of a grant 

13 under this section, shall direct the appropriate offices 

14 within the Department of Justice to provide technical as15 sistance to the recipient to the extent the Attorney General 

16 determines technical assistance is needed to establish or 

17 maintain a program that provides protection or assistance 

18 to witnesses. 

19 (e) BEST PRACTICES.— 

20 (1) REPORT.—A recipient of a grant under this 

21 section shall submit to the Attorney General a re22 port, in such form and manner and containing such 

23 information as specified by the Attorney General, 

24 that evaluates each program established or mainVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:37 Dec 10, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4194.IH H4194

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1 tained pursuant to the grant, including policies and 

2 procedures under the program. 

3 (2) DEVELOPMENT OF BEST PRACTICES.— 

4 Based on the reports submitted under paragraph 

5 (1), the Attorney General shall develop best practice 

6 models to assist State, tribal, and local governments 

7 in addressing— 

8 (A) witness safety; 

9 (B) short-term and permanent witness re10 location; 

11 (C) financial and housing assistance; and 

12 (D) any other services related to witness 

13 protection or assistance that the Attorney Gen14 eral determines necessary. 

15 (3) DISSEMINATION TO STATES.—Not later 

16 than 1 year after developing best practice models 

17 under paragraph (2), the Attorney General shall dis18 seminate the models to State, tribal, and local gov19 ernments. 

20 (4) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

21 Congress that State, tribal, and local governments 

22 should use the best practice models developed and 

23 disseminated under this subsection to evaluate, im24 prove, and develop witness protection or witness as25 sistance programs as appropriate. 


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1 (5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION RELATING TO

2 SENSITIVE INFORMATION.—Nothing in this section 

3 shall be construed to require the dissemination of 

4 any information that the Attorney General deter5 mines— 

6 (A) is law enforcement sensitive and 

7 should only be disclosed within the law enforce8 ment community; or 

9 (B) poses a threat to national security. 

10 (f) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of the 

12 cost of a program carried out using a grant made 

13 under this section shall be not more than 75 per14 cent. 

15 (2) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara17 graph (B), the non-Federal share for a program 

18 carried out using a grant made under this sec19 tion may be in the form of in-kind contributions 

20 that are directly related to the purpose for 

21 which the grant was made. 

22 (B) MAXIMUM PERCENTAGE.—Not more 

23 than 50 percent of the non-Federal share for a 

24 program carried out using a grant made under 


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1 this section may be in the form of in-kind con2 tributions. 

3 (g) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Of amounts made 

4 available to carry out this section for a fiscal year, the 

5 Attorney General may use not more than 5 percent for 

6 administrative costs. 

7 (h) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.—In making grants 

8 under this section, the Attorney General shall— 

9 (1) to the extent reasonable and practical, en10 sure an equitable geographical distribution through11 out the United States of programs that provide pro12 tection or assistance to witnesses; and 

13 (2) give due consideration to applicants from 

14 both urban and rural areas. 

15 (i) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Attorney General 

16 shall submit a report to Congress— 

17 (1) not later than December 31, 2016, on the 

18 implementation of this section, including any infor19 mation on programs funded by grants made under 

20 this section; and 

21 (2) not later than December 31, 2021, on the 

22 programs funded by grants made under this section, 

23 including on best practice models developed under 

24 subsection (e)(2). 


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1 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

2 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

3 $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2020. 

Æ 


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